We’ve been home from our North Carolina Mountains adventure for nearly a week. I’ve spent a lot of this time putting stuff away from that trip and getting things ready for the next one. A special thing I’ve managed to do is take a look several times at all of the trip photos. They can’t help but remind me of the wonderful time we had.

This was an amazingly well behaved and fun-loving group, not that I was expecting anything else. The boys earned several treats thanks to compliments they received. And yes I know I still owe them some of those treats. It was one of the youngest groups we’ve ever had with over half the boys being ten years old. Of course, that means the other half ranged from 11 to nearly 15.

We were busy. It’s amazing how much we found to do not far from home. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the backdrop for several of our adventures. One memorable hike was up to Clingmans Dome where we were encased in clouds and couldn’t see 50 feet in front of us. But who can’t forget how cold it was trying to eat lunch up there before taking the hike. We had had a temperature drop of nearly twenty degrees in just the few minutes drive up the mountain.

Some of the kids saw elk on three different occasions and everyone saw them at twice. Some kids got a glimpse of a coyote. They all saw wild turkey and groundhogs and other assorted creatures including a flock of chickens at the historic farm at the visitor center at GSMNP.

I think even the boys were somewhat moved by the retelling in drama of the life of the Cherokee and their removal along the Trail of Tears at “Unto these Hills.” And the next day we got to visit a living Indian Village and learn even more. Several of our boys even joined in a Native American dance.

We had a few firsts on this trip. One of those was taking the boys into a bank so they could cash their ten or twenty dollar bills for ones (for the vending machines). But for me the most memorable “first” was participating in the Junior National Park Ranger training and being sworn in by a real-life ranger. The “older set” of 13 year olds on up earned their “Not-So-Junior” patch and certificate. And that included me - fulfilling a life-long dream of becoming a national park ranger.

And of course, the boys will long remember the ropes course and zip-line and whitewater rafting at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, the bowling tournament, the horseback trail ride in the Smokies…and more.

During my first year of my travel camp program in 1978 I experienced the enjoyment of participating in a National Park ranger-led program for the first time. And it was way back then that I imagined how cool that would be to serve as a National Park Ranger. Well, years passed, decades passed…and it was never going to happen. But then I thought with retirement all but here, perhaps I could be a volunteer “ranger” at a nearby park like the Carl Sandburg Home or Cowpens National Battlefield site.

And now my dream has been fulfilled. Just this past week, when out adventuring with 22 kids in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I had the honor of having the title of “Not-So-Junior Ranger” bestowed upon me by Ranger Savannah and Ranger Mark (no, not this Mark). And I have the certificate and the patch to prove it!

It all happened while the MindStretch Travel Adventures boys were earning their “Junior Park Ranger” certificate and badge that I found out “not-so-junior” people (anyone 13 or over) could also get involved and become “rangers.” And so, there you have it. A life-long dream fulfilled.

Our first adventure is already on day number three. The only issue we're having and it's a "personal" problem is low wi-fi speed in the hotel. Uploading photos takes forever, so instead of keeping a daily blog...check out our photos and blog notes on our Flickr site.

You could also read the blog notes on our MindStretch Travel Adventures page on Facebook which will link you to the album from that day's photos. But for all the photos...Flickr is where you want to be! You can click on each photo for an enlarged image and a simple caption.

If you've read the last MTA newsletter or kept up with us via Facebook and/or other outlets, you know that we had a phenomenal response to the 2018 European adventure planned for next June.

Our other trip will be a seven-day trip to the Virginia Highlands in July. Usually the short trips don't start to build a roster until mid-fall once everyone is back in school a few weeks. So it is exciting to get our first four boys on the roster for the 2018 Virginia Highlands trip. Click this link to learn more about this full-filled week that's close to home.

We were last in this area in 2014 where this group of boys were having a great ride on the Virginia Trail, a Rails-to-Trails conversion.